MashCat entrevista en exclusiva a A Plus D (entrevista)

Bueno, bueno, bueno, que alegría siento al poder decir que en tan sólo un mes y poco de haber inicio el proyecto de MashCat, ya os ofrecemos una entrada de alto nivel: entrevista en exclusiva a A Plus D (aka DJs Adrian & Mysterious D)./Well, well, well, how happy I’m to be able to say that with just a month to start MashCat‘s project, we offer you a high post level: exclusive interview to A Plus D (aka DJs Adrian & Mysterious D).
Vamos allá!/So go on!

Este es uno de los grandes momentos en la corta historia de MashCat: hoy conoceremos mejor a A Plus D, este dúo de DJs son probablemente quienes han hecho más para difundir la cultura mashup en EE.UU. y en el resto del mundo. Si James Brown era conocido como el padrino del soul, a vosotros se os podría conocer por los padrinos del mashup./This is one of the greatest moments in MashCat short live: today we meet A Plus D, this duo DJs are which probably had made more to diffuse mashup culture in USA and in the rest of the world. If James Brown was known as the godfather of soul we could name you the godfathers of mashup.

Hola A Plus D! Bienvenidos a España. Gracias por venir y atendernos./Hello A Plus D! Welcome To Spain and thank you to come and attend us.

Hello! We are happy to be here… This is actually our first time in Spain!/Hola! Estamos contentos de estar aquí… Ésta es, de hecho, nuestra primera vez en España!

Es más, creo que esta es la primera vez que unos DJs 100% mashup actúan en España*1. Felicidades! (Sábado 14 de Abril en Razzmatazz)/I think this is the first time that 100% mashup DJs act at Spain*1. Congratulations! (Saturday 14th of April at Razzmatazz)

Thanks/Gracias.

foto de Leo Herrera

Veníis a presentar vuestro formato de fiesta por primera vez al público de españa: las Bootie Parties. Cuándo empezasteis y qué la hace distinta a las demás propuestas nocturnas?/You come to show to Spain audience your own party: the Bootie Parties. When did you started and what makes it different from the other night choices?

We started Bootie in 2003, and it was the first dance party in the world dedicated solely to «mashups,» which is the art form of taking two or more songs and combining them into one unique and creative creation. The best ones take two songs from completely different genres and eras and combine them together so well that you never hear the original songs the same way again./Empezamos las Bootie en 2003. ésta es la primera fiesta dance en el mundo dedicada únicamente al mashup, que es el arte de coger dos o más canciones y combinarlas en una creación creativa y única. Los mejores mashups, cogen dos canciones de tiempos y géneros dispares y forman un convenio tan bueno que uno nunca vuelve a oír la canción original del mismo modo.

Y yo os aseguro esto que decís es cierto, cuando tengo ocasión de ir de fiesta (que desgraciadamente cada vez es menos a menudo), y oigo un tema del cual me conozco un buen mashup, suelo cantar ésta versión en los trozos instrumentales, provocando un efecto dominó en la pista de baile; (por ejemplo, ocurrió así con un tema vuestro en la última actuación de 2 Many DJ’s en el Brandery de Barcelona (28 Enero 2012) cuando ellos pusieron el Don’t You Want Me de The Human League:/And I can sure you what you say, when i have the opportunity to go out to party (that unfortunately it’s becoming less and less often), and i heard a song witch I know a good mashup, I use to sing the mashup version on the instrumentals parts, causing a domino effect on the dance floor; (for example this happened with one of yours mahups at 2 Many DJ’s  live at Brandery in Barcelona (28th January 2012) when they play Don’t You Want Me from The Human League:

Our audiences also tend to be as «mashed up» as the music, since we use all genres of music, with people of all styles mixing on the dance floor./Además, nuestro público también tiende a ser una mezcla (mashed up) igual que la música, puesto que utilizamos todos los géneros musicales, así, gente de todos los estilos se mezcla en la pista de baile.

Our first party was a monthly party of 150 people. Now, almost 9 years later, we are the biggest mashup event in the world, pulling audiences of over 1,000 people in SF (San Francisco), along with capacity audiences in Los Angeles, New York City, Seattle, and with partners in Rio de Janeiro, Berlin, London, and more./Nuestra primera fiesta empezó siendo mensual y asistieron 150 personas. Ahora, casi 9 años después, somos el evento mashup más grande del mundo, tirando de un público cercano a las mil persones en SF, junto a la capacidad de audiencia de Los Ángeles, Nueva York, Seattle, y con socios como Rio de Janeiro, Berlín, London, y más.

Uau! Un dato a considerar…/Wow! A data to consider…

Por qué Bootie, qué significa?/Why Bootie, what does it means?

«Bootie» is short for «bootleg,» which is what mashups were called in the UK, where the scene started back in the early 2000s. Technically, because producers and DJs create these tracks without copyright clearances or permission from the artists, they are all technically illegal … a.k.a. bootlegs. However, many people believe mashups are satire, parody, and creative expression, and that mashups should be legal under the «fair use» policy, which is: «Fair use is a limitation and exception to the exclusive right granted by copyright law to the author of a creative work»*2./»Bootie» es el diminutivo de «bootleg», que es como los mashups se llamaban en el Reino Unido, donde empezó la escena por allá los inicios del 2000. Técnicamente, como que los productores y DJs que crean estas versiones sin licencias y permisos de los artistas, son todos ellos ilegales y se conocen por el termino «bootleg». Sin embargo, en tanto que mucha gente cree que los mashups son una sátira, una parodia, y una expresión creativa, éstos deberían ser legales entendidos como «uso legítimo o razonable» (fair use), que es: «una limitación y excepción al derecho exclusivo y garantido por la ley de derechos de autor»*2.

Y aunque son ilegales, (como bien muestra vuestro logo), nunca habéis tenido problema alguno con las autoridades sino al contrario, no es así?/And although they are illegal (as it shows your logo) you have never had any problems with the authorities but the opposite, haven’t you?

Le Tigre and Kreayshawn both loved our mashups versions – we mash Kreayshawn‘s song with five other female artists from the past 30 years, one of witch was her mom’s old surf-punk band, The Trashwomen! She re-tweeted it and big-upped it to her followers. We’re perhaps the first ever producers to mash up an artist with their mom!/Le Tigre y Kreayshawn les encantó nuestras versiones mashups; el tema de Kreayshawn lo combinamos con otras 5 voces femeninas de los últimos 30 años, una de las cuales era su la banda surf-punk de su propia madre: The Trashwomen! Ella lo re-twitteó y sus seguidores lo mencionaron también. Quizás seamos los primeros en poducir un mashup con un artista y su madre!

Missy Elliott vs. Le TigreDecepta-Freak-On

Kreayshawn vs. Toni Basil vs. Le Tigre vs. The Ting Tings vs. The Trashwomen vs. The Go-Go’sGucci Gucci Girl Power

Qué esperáis de la sesión en el Razzmatazz? Resulta un poco extraño pinchar por vez primera en un nuevo país, ciudad i club, no?/What do you except for that night at Razzmatazz? It’s quite strange to DJ for first time in a new country, city and club, don’t you?

It’s always different playing in a new country, but we love bringing what we do to more places around the world, and helping to start or develop a mashup scene and culture. At Razz, we’re playing the Pop Bar, and Booties is a like a celebration of pop culture both past and present, so it should be really fun!/Es siempre distinto pinchar en cada país, pero nos encanta expandir nuestra propuesta a más sitios del mundo ayudando así a empezar o construir una escena y cultura mashup. En el Razz, pincharemos en la Pop Bar, y las Booties son como una celebración de la cultura pop del presente y el pasado, por tanto, será realmente divertido!

Vuestras referencias musicales?/Your musical references?

We have always loved ALL kinds of music, all genres and eras of music … so for both us to embrace mashup culture makes perfect sense./Siempre nos han gustado TODOS los tipos de música, todos los géneros y épocas musicales… por lo tanto, tiene sentido total para nosotros acogernos a la cultura mashup.

Contadnos un poco como empezásteis todo? La idea de la fiesta, su formato, la música mashup, etc. /Tell us how you started everything? The idea of the party, its format, the mashup music, etc.

We heard our first mashup in San Francisco in 2002 – it was either The Freelance Hellraisers «A Stroke of Genius» (Christina Aguilera vs. The Strokes)*3 or 2 Many DJ’s «Smells Like Booty» (Destiny’s Child vs. Nirvana)*4 and it was love at first listen. But when we started DJing them in our sets, sometimes people come up and say: «can’t you just play the NORMAL song?» because it was such a new and unusual concept. So we decided to start a club where the theme of the party was playing ONLY mashups. Then people started to fall in love with mashups, and Bootie grew and a scene developed around the party, with DJs, producers, and fans./Oímos por primera vez un mashup en SF en 2002; fue tanto con el «A Stroke of Genius» de The Freelance Hellraiser (Christina Aguilera vs. The Strokes)*3, como con el «Smells Like Booty» de 2 Many DJ’s (Destiny’s Child vs. Nirvana)*4, y nos enamoró des de la primera escucha. Pero cuando empezamos a pincharlos en nuestros sets, a menudo la gente venia y nos decía «no puedes poner la canción NORMAL?» porque era un concepto aún nuevo y inusual. Así que decidimos empezar un club donde SÓLO sonaran mashups. Luego la gente empezó a engancharse a los mashups, el Bootie creció y la escena mashups se desarrolló alrededor de la fiesta, con DJs, productores y fans.

Adrian later started a 6-piece live mashup rock band called Smash-Up Derby, so we could play mashups not just as DJs, but also sing and play them live!/ Luego, Adrian empezó una banda de mashup rock en directo «a 6-piezas» (la Smash-Up Derby), de este modo, no sólo ponemos mashups como DJs, sino también los cantamos y los tocamos en directo!

Fantástico!/Amazing!

No suelen ser muy habituales las parejas dentro de los productores de mashup, cómo es vuestro dúo?/There are not two many non single mashup producers, so what about your relationship?

We are a married couple, living and working and doing everything together!/Estamos casados; vivimos y trabajamos y hacemos todo juntos!

Enorabuena! Es más de lo que espero encontrar yo… en cualquier caso es infrecuente./Congratulations! It’s more than what I expect to find… but it’s unusual in any case.

Quizás fuera mejor que esta pregunta la contestará alguien que os conozca bien pero no fuérais vosotros mismos como Titus Jones, DJ Earworm o Lobsterdust, pero confio en que miraréis de ser objetivos: explicadnos un poco la importancia de A Plus D y las Booties en el circuito mundial del mashup./Maybe would be better than this answer come from somebody who knows you well but not you both like Titus Jones, DJ Earworm or Lobsterdust, but I trust you will try to be objective: tell us about the A Plus D and Booties significance in mashup world scene?

We like to think that Bootie is the central hub of the mashup scene – we’re always looking for the best mashups and producers and trying to champion the scene, and introduce the music, DJs, and producers to audiences around the world. We dig through hundreds of mashups each month in order to find the best ones to deliver to the people – and to the dance floors./Nos gusta pensar que la Bootie es el eje central de la escena mashup: estamos siempre mirando de ofrecer los mejores mashups y productores para ganar y liderar la escena, y introducir la música, DJs y productores a los distintos públicos del mundo. Cada mes, escarbamos entre cientos de mashups para dar con los mejores y ofrecerlos a nuestro público y llevarlos a las pistas de baile.

Sé de buenos DJs y productores de mashup que utilizan herramientas tradicionalmente no consideradas de alta calidad (Virtual DJ, Adobe Audition, etc.). Que opinas acerca de este hecho? Con qué equipo trabajáis vosotros?/I noticed about good mashup DJs and producers that use considered minor quality tools (Virtual DJ, Adobe Audition, etc.). What do you think about it? Witch is your gear?

We use Ableton Live to create our own mashups, and DJ using a combination of Serato Scratch Live and CDs. Moreover we swear by Ableton Live, but different tools work better for different people. Titus Jones is one of the best mashup producers in the world, and he makes everything using Adobe Audition!/Usamos Ableton Live para crear nuestros propios mashups y pinchamos combinando CDs y el Serato Scratch Live. Es más, somos fieles usuarios de Ableton Live, sin embargo, las herramientas funcionan mejor para distintas personas. Titus Jones es uno de los mejores productores de DJs del mundo y hace sus mashups con Adobe Audition.

Sí, Titus era uno de los que tenía en mente./Yes, Titus was one of those who had in mind.

En FMI Tracks (Fighting Musical Ignorance Tracks), leí un artículo (WTF happened to mashups?, 9 de Enero del 2012) acerca del deterioro de la calidad de los mashups: samples sobreexplotados, demasiados artistas de mashup, carencia de originalidad y bloggers deshonestos. Vuestra opinión al respecto es?/At FMI Tracks (Fighting Musical Ignorance Tracks), I read an article (WTF happened to mashups?, Jan 9, 2012) about the mashup quality deterioration: overused samples, too many artist, unoriginality and dishonest bloggers. What do you think about this one?

Some of this we’d been noticing, and we agreed with parts of that article. Anyone can take two current pop songs and mash them together, but it’s what we call «what’s the point?» mashups. There’s very little creativity or ingenuity behind it – it’s not clever, and it makes no musical statement or connection, other than that all current pop music sounds the same. Granted, sometimes it’s fun to make that statement, but when seemingly everybody is doing it, it becomes less interesting. Our job is to keep promoting the great creative mashups and great producers./También estamos al corriente de artículos similares. Cualquiera persona está capacitada para coger dos canciones pop y mezclarlas (mash), pero nosotros decimos «y dónde está la gracia?». Hay muy poca creatividad y ingenio tras ello, no es ni inteligente ni presenta ninguna declaración o conexión musical, además del echo que todo el pop suena igual. Si bien es cierto que en ocasiones resulta divertido hacer ese tipo de mezclas, pero se está volviendo cada vez menos interesante conforme parece que todo el mundo se está poniendo a hacerlos. Nuestro trabajo incluye la promoción de los grandes y más creativos productores de mashup.

There is ALWAYS new talent popping up. Every year we see more. So the mashup scene is not actually declining – in fact, it’s just the opposite. It’s growing. When we began, almost no one was making tracks, so they were all creative, but not always top quality. Now you have hundreds (if not thousands) of new producers, and like any style of music, the majority will make basic or easy non-creative stuff. But that still means there are also other great new producers in that group with a real unique vision and a new talent and take on mashups, which makes the scene better. You just have to wade through the boring tracks to get to the special ones./Hay SIEMPRE talentos emergentes. Cada año vemos más. Por lo que, realmente la escena mashup no se está degradando, de hecho, es justamente lo contrario, está creciendo. Cuando empezamos, casi nadie hacía temas, así que todos ellos eran muy creativos pero no siempre de la más alta calidad. Ahora, tienes cientos, (sino miles), de nuevos productores de cualquier estilo de música, de los cuales, la gran mayoritaria hacen propuestas fáciles y básicas o no creativas. Pero a la vez, esto significa que de éstos, hay un grupito de grandes productores con una visión talentosa real y única, que el mashup deberá asumir, lo que mejora la escena. Sólo tienes que vadear las pistas aburridas para llegar a las especiales.

Cuáles han sido los avances más relevantes del genero y la cultura mashup? La diferencia más positiva y negativa de cuando empezasteis al momento presente? Y qué hay del futuro?/Which are the most important advances mashup style and culture had made? The most positive and negative difference between when you started and nowadays? And what about the future?

For us, it’s been crazy to watch mashups go from being completely unknown, to becoming part of music culture. Mashups were even featured on TV shows like Glee Cast and in movies*5. And now many people have been exposed to them. However, because of the «legal issues» with copyright, you can’t buy these mashups or sell them. And that keeps them somewhat underground. Which means they manage to be underground and mainstream at the same time, which is a mashup itself!/Para nosotros ha sido de locos ver como el mashup ha ido de ser completamente desconocido, a pasar a formar parte de la cultura musical. Mashups han penetrado en la televisión con espectáculos como el de Glee Cast y también en largometrajes*5, exponiéndolos a mucha gente. Sin embargo, debido a «cuestiones legales» con los derechos de autor, no puedes comprar esos mashups o venderlos. Eso los mantiene dentro de la esfera de algo así como el underground.

Qué crees que le depara el futuro al mashup, los DJ y los artistas originales?/What do you think will happen in the future with mashup, DJ and the original artists?

As we noted, mashup culture has become part of music culture, and we think it will continue to grow and combine. Many record labels already release acapellas (vocals only) of their artists, just so people will remix and mash them up. So original, remix, and mashup are actually all connected in many ways./Como apuntábamos, la cultura mashup ya forma parte de la cultura musical, y creemos que seguirá creciendo y combinándose. Muchos sellos discográficos ya editan acapellas (pistas únicamente vocales) de sus artistas, de este modo, la gente remixará y mezclará (will mash) su música. Por lo tanto, lo original, el remix y el mashup están actualmente muy conectados en muchos sentidos.

Dejadme haceros saber que nosotros estamos en España, vamos a ver lo que ocurrirá aquí el día que se toquen ciertos artistas musicales/Let me know you that we are in Spain, we will see what happen when somebody mashes some Spanish musicians.

La última: lo mejor del estilo mashup?/ The last one: the best of mashup style?

What we love best about this music, though, is the way if brings musical styles, and people together in a new way. And it has a punk rock DIY (Do It Yourself) ethos, where anyone can be creative and contribute. And lastly, it’s just a much more fun way to hear the songs you love — or hate — in creative new compositions./Lo que más nos gusta de esta música, es el modo nuevo en que te brinda los estilos musicales y reúne a la gente. También su lado cercano al punk rock DIY (Do It Yourself, donde cualquiera puede ser creativo y contribuir. Y, por último, es la manera más divertida de oír la música que te apasiona (o odias), de un modo compositivo nuevo y creativo.

:-)

Esperamos que nuestra ayuda hay sido útil para venir a España por primera vez y que tengamos ocasión de verte por aquí con cierta regularidad, eso supondría que MashCat ha alcanzado uno de sus objectivos./I hope our help was useful to come to Spain for first time, and that we will have the opportunity to see you with some kind of regularity, that will means that we are achieving MashCat‘s aims.

THANK YOU MASHCAT!/GRACIAS MASHCAT!

Y nosotros, sólo queda disfrutar de la fiesta, este sábado 14 en el Razzmatazz, una oportunidad única de ver en directo una sesión de mashups de calidad con toda una referencia mundial como son A Plus D; (os dejamos unos regalitos más… ;)/And we just let to enjoy the party, this Saturday 14th at Razzmatazz, we had an unique opportunity to see a live good quality mashup session with a world referent like A Plus D – we let you another finally presents… ;)


 

– –

*Fuentes:
Bootie
– para más temas mashup de A Plus D

Notas:
*1
En terriotorio español han actuado DJ’s que también hacen o han hecho mashups como los
 2 Many DJ’s y Loo & Placido, pero los A Plus D són DJs conocidos únicamente por su faceta mashup.
*2
El fair use proviene de la legislación de los EE.UU. y ha sido adoptado por Israel y Polonia, y de alguna manera hainfluenciado las políticas de derechos de autor en Canadá y Corea del Sur. (Autor collaborativo. “Fair use: influence internationally”. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia; [recurso en línia]. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use#Influence_internationally> [consulta: Abril 2012]

*3
The Freelance Hellraiser Christina Aguilera vs. The Strokes A Stroke Of Genie-Us

*4
2 Many DJ’s – Destiny’s Child vs. Nirvana Smells Like Booty (vídeo mashup)

*5
Un ejemplo que conocemos en
MashCat: Just Go With It (Sigueme el Rollo) con mashups de Party Ben, DJ Zebra y DJ Y alias JY, y con la reinterpretación de Lobsterdust.

*
Únicamente con fines promocionales. Da soporte a los artistas originales comprando sus obras y sobretodo yendo a sus directos.

 

DJ Surda
Foundador de MashCat.net.
24 Feb. 2012


A Plus D = Bootie: SXSW Music Interview (entrevista)

El día ha amanecido con una entrevista a A Plus D por parte de Yourmusicradar. Para los que aún vayáis despistados, A Plus D són uno de los referentes mundiales del mashup, creadores de la fiesta mashup más grande del mundo, y que el 14 de Abril tendremos en Barcelona en la Razzmatazz.
Para mayor comodidad cuelgo el texto (eso sí: in English):

AplusD foto

SXSW is here and that can only mean one thing for A Plus D the Bootie Mashup pioneers!!! Yep, they’re hitting Austin for 2 monster mashup parties in March (SXSWi for Mashable and their own showcasing party for SXSW Music). We simply cannot wait to catch them in action doing what they do so well.

You know when mashups are done well when you listen to the original ‘unmashed’ track and wish it was the mashed version. We had that same experience only a couple of weeks ago when we caught Kanye West live and he played ‘Gold Digger’ (sorry Kanye). It just wasn’t the same when it wasn’t mashed over the Beethoven’s 5th track taken from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack (check it out here).

So, what do you know about A Plus D and Bootie Mashup? If you are scratching your head, here is a little background info.

San Francisco-based DJ duo A Plus D – aka Adrian & Mysterious D, have forged a hard-earned reputation as crowd-pleasing selectors who not only shamelessly bridge the gaps between genres, but between the alternative and the mainstream. As tireless torchbearers of the mashup artform, the colorful duo spin a bootlegged blend of pop, electro, indie, hip hop, rock, ’80s & ’90s retro, and whatever else moves a dance floor. No matter what it is though, they know how to bring the party.

Their first mashup bootleg party in the United States and the biggest one in the world was launched in San Francisco in 2003. Since then, after starting a sister club in Los Angeles in 2005, they’ve since launched regular Bootie parties in New York City, Paris, Berlin, Munich, Boston, Rio, London, Hong Kong, and many more – not to mention various one-offs around the globe from Brazil to Beijing.

We did a Q&A with A Plus D before they head to Austin to see what else is in store for Bootie Mashup in 2012:

We first got into A Plus D a few years back with one of our favourite mashups of yours, the Robyn vs. Cure ‘Close To Konichiwa Bitches’ track. We know all of your mashups are pretty awesome but is there one favourite mashup that you’ve done over the years that you come back to time and time again?

It seems like our rap/disco/classical mashup “Beethoven’s Fifth Gold Digger” (Kanye West vs. Beethoven vs. Walter Murphy) just never quite goes away. It’s a perennial favorite, and for a DJ, it’s one of those “In Case of Emergency Break Glass” tracks — it never fails for the dance floor!

Which mashup has had the best reaction from the crowds you’ve played at your Bootie Mashup Parties (either one you’ve done or one you’ve played)?

The answer to that question changes from month to month, depending on what current songs are hot at the moment, or new mashups that we find or make.

Classic tracks like DJ John’s “It Take Two to Kiss” (Prince vs. Rob Base vs. Junior Senior) stand the test of time, and always fill the dance floor. And there are tracks like “Party & Bullshit (In The USA)” (Notorious B.I.G. vs. Miley Cyrus) that always make the crowd giggle and people can’t help but enjoy the guilty pleasure of it.

Of course, we also have electro-bangers from our favorite thumpy bootleggers DJs From Mars. And there are so many great “hands in the air” tracks, often using current hits. Another big Bootie “all-time hit” is our own A Plus D “Don’t Stop Believing in Planet Rock” mashup, which is Journey backed by Afrika Bambaataa, an epic sing-along at Bootie every time.

Again, this is a hard question, because there are so many “Bootie hits” over the years!

Have you ever had any of the artists you’ve mashed give you compliments on their tracks or even said that you’ve made the tracks even better?

Le Tigre absolutely LOVED our “Decepta-Freak-On” — our second mashup ever — which mashed them up with Missy Elliott. They posted it to their web site, and whenever they would do guest DJ sets, they would play it. Supposedly, it got them into talks with Missy Elliott’s people to work on a collaboration (which unfortunately never happened).

More recently, Bay Area buzzworthy up-and-comer Kreayshawn apparently loved our mashup featuring her debut hit “Gucci Gucci,” a track that we mashed up, backing it with five other female artists from the past 30 years — including her mom’s old surf-punk band, The Trashwomen! She re-tweeted it and big-upped it to her followers. We’re perhaps the first ever producers to mash up an artist with their mom!

Kreayshawn vs. Toni Basil vs. Le Tigre vs. The Ting Tings vs. The Trashwomen vs. The Go-Go’sGucci Gucci Girl Power

With all of your Bootie Mashup Parties around the world, is there anywhere you want to get out to over the coming months that you’ve not listed yet?

Bootie Antarctica! No seriously, we would love to throw a party at a scientific research base there! But more realistically, Tokyo is somewhere we’d love to throw a Bootie party, but we just haven’t made the connection with the right promoters there. Closer to home, we’re also working on a Bootie Las Vegas.

At this point though, we’ve got more cities that want Bootie than we have time and resources to do it. We get at least one email a week from somewhere around the world asking us to bring a Bootie party there. We wish we could do them all!

But for now, we choose very carefully, city by city, depending on the opportunity. We’re very much a “mom and pop” organization that has been blessed to finally grow to pretty epic heights. However, the “mom and pop of mashups” currently need a bigger team in place to help us run things, so we can continue to spread the Bootie gospel around the globe!

There are a lot (a lot lot lot) of people who have been putting mashups out there online. Some are golden nuggets of ear joy that work so well and some are definitely not a treat for the senses. What’s the best advice you could give budding mashup DJ’s to help them get their mashups right?

There are three bits of advice we can give budding mashup DJs:

First off, don’t make a “what’s the point” mashup. Sure, those two current pop songs may mash up together. But who cares? There’s nothing clever, genre-clashed, or interesting about it. It misses the entire point of mashup culture.

Secondly, don’t just learn to line up beats — learn some music theory as well, so your two (or more) songs are in the same (or complimentary) musical keys. Anyone can learn to beatmatch, but that skill is only one small part of a successful mashup creation, a fact lost on many (many many many) DJs who create bad-sounding, out-of-key tracks — including some famous mashup artists, whose names we will not mention.

And lastly, cramming more and more tracks and parts and samples into one mashup often doesn’t make it better — it makes it less song-like and usually has less impact than a more traditional mashup (unless your a master like Titus Jones or DJ Earworm who both understand song structure implicitly).

You’re scheduled to play two SXSW mashup parties at Austin in March. How does it feel to be playing SXSW, where some of the big names in the music industry have showcased and been keynote speakers over the years?

We’ve been forging our own path for so long, and doing things so D.I.Y. — and not relying on traditional music industry protocol — that somehow we ended up skipping SXSW every year. But it feels awesome to be going to Austin this year … finally! And not necessarily “hoping to be discovered,” but to bring our own party to the table. And being invited by Mashable to spin at their annual SXSW party is just so much bonus. So we’re excited!

When did you find out that you had been officially listed to play? (We saw that some acts only found out the very day the full schedule was released & some even found out on their Twitter feed from fans)

We actually added the Mashable SXSW gig soon after we played their CES party in Vegas. They’re an awesome company, and we just instantly vibed with them really well, and some of their audience were Bootie fans, so it was a great fit, and they invited us to play their SXSWi party.

While our Sunday night Bootie mashup-style DJ gig with Mashable is an official SXSW event, our own Thursday Bootie Austin party is “unofficial” (no badge required!) Yes, the Bootie D.I.Y. aesthetic remains true, even at SXSW.

Are you going to be able to mix business with pleasure at SXSW and catch any conference sessions and gigs when you’re there or will your working commitments mean it will be a fleeting trip to Austin?

We ALWAYS mix business with pleasure! Not sure of our full schedule yet, but we plan to hang out and schmooze like everyone else … and we’ll be hanging out with our friends in local Austin mashup rock band More Cowbell … and eating some great Tex-Mex! We also anticipate perhaps adding a DJ set here, or a live vocal mashup performance there, if the opportunity arises.

Which bands and DJs on the schedule will you be trying to catch?

To be honest, we need to go through the schedule with a highlighter, which — given our current schedule — will probably be happening on a flight from San Francisco to Austin! I think we’ll just go where the wind, and our friends, take us most of the time.

As you’re listed as a SXSW artist, do you get a guaranteed Willy Wonka’s golden ticket to catch Bruce Springsteen play or are you in the same boat as every other attendee that is hoping to get to catch ‘The Boss’ in action?

Bruce Springsteen is playing? See above answer! ;) I guess we’ll see if there is any SXSW magic!

What’s next after SXSW for A Plus D and the Bootie Mashup Parties in 2012?

The day after our Bootie Austin SXSW party, we fly to New York to do our Bootie St. Paddy’s Mashup Party, then two days later fly to China to do Bootie Shanghai and Bootie Hong Kong … all while making sure our parties back home in San Francisco and LA go off without a hitch in our absence! After that, we are doing a tour of Europe, playing our Bootie partners’ parties starting with London (our 3rd Annual Party), then onto France, Berlin, Munich, Vienna, and doing Barcelona for the first time, as well as opening a Bootie in Budapest (Bootie-pest?!).

Our plans for 2012 should really involve us trying to clone ourselves in order to bring Bootie to more cities, but if cloning technology can’t keep up with our career ambitions, then perhaps we’ll simply resort to delegating! Between all the parties we throw now, we have an amazing crew of mashup DJs and producers to pimp out!

Bootie Austin SXSW

We can’t wait for all the great things that 2012 has in store for A Plus D and all things bootie in 2012 and beyond. If you are heading to SXSW and are there for the interactive and/or music sessions, we seriously recommend you get along to some of the action that A Plus D will be giving out at either the Mashable SXSWi party on Sunday March 11 at Buffalo Billiards or their official party on Thursday March 15 at the Hangar Lounge.  We definitely will be along for the ride at their official party on Thursday and you should be too!!!!

In the meantime, if you want to check out all things A Plus D and their Bootie Mashups, get your fix at their official site here.

Check out the Best of Bootie 2011 below and one of their fine mashups too.


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Únicamente con fines promocionales. Da soporte a los artistas originales comprando sus obras y sobretodo yendo a sus directos.